§ MR. SUMMERBELL (Sunderland)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War if soldiers suffering from tubercle of the lungs are discharged, and a notification is then sent to the medical officer of health of the town to which the patient is proceeding, asking that officer to keep the patient under supervision; and, if so, whether the Government will consider the advisability of providing a consumption sanatorium at which a soldier who is not altogether hopeless might be received and treated, the danger of infection thus being lessened, and a soldier given a 701 much better chance of recovery on account of the professional treatment he would thus receive at such an institution compared with the facilities in an ordinary worker's home.
§ MR. BUCHANANA notification is sent, in accordance with the Medical Regulations, to the medical officer of health of the town in which the soldier discharged on account of tubercle of the lung intends to reside. This notice is sent in the public interest, and is not intended to be a request to keep the man under supervision. The question of the provision of a sanatorium for soldiers invalided out of the service for consumption has been very fully considered, and the scheme has been found impracticable.
§ COLONEL SEELY (Liverpool, Abercromby)Is the hon. Gentleman aware that a great number of men are thus invalided out of the Army for consumption, and as Netley Hospital is unfitted for their reception, would it not be possible for the War Office to arrange for their being admitted into private sanatoria instead of sending them to their homes?
§ MR. BUCHANANThe War Office do endeavour to do that now.